Art of annealing



Feb. 4, 1930. G. s. EVANS ART OF ANNEALING Filed Feb. G, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet IVI- NMJ Feb. 4, 1930. v G. s. EVANS 1,745,362

ART oF ANNEALING Filed Feb. e. 1922 2 shets-sneet 2 Iuge/aia:

VPatented Fels. 4, 1930 l UNITI-:D sra'rss PATENT orluca GEORGE s. EVANS, or osx PARK, ILLINoIs AssIGNon To GRIFFIN WHEL coMPANY, or -cHIcAGd ILLINOIS, A coaPonA'rroN or MASSACHUSETTS ART F ANNEALING v 'Application mea February e, 1922. smal No. 534,392.A

This invention relates in general to the art of annealing castings of iron,.s'teel and other `ing all `of the output to identical conditions.

Prior to my invention it has been generally the custom to anneal car wheels and the like by taking them from the molds and depositing them in pits, piling themone on the other until a considerable accumulation has been obtainedandthen undertakingv to maintain a slow rateof cooling. In this procedure it has been substantially impossible to maintain an even heat action or cooling action on the 'wheels,-those at one part of the pit cooling *more rapidly than those at another. My invention contemplates-the conduction of the car wheels or other articles through an annealing oven as a substantially continuous process so that conditions maybe accurately controlled in the various stages of the annealing and be identical upon successively cast articles.

Another object of my invention isthe proi vision of an apparatus of 'this character and a process for ,annealing which may be economically employed and by the use of attendants of relatively unskilled character.

The invention has for a furtherpurpose the provision of an apparatus for carrying out my improved process, which will not be excessively costly' to install and which will kbe of eiicient operation and unlikely to require frequent repair or replacement of parts. Numerous other objects and advantages of i the invention will be apparent as it is better partially in horizontal section, of an apparatus embodying my present invention;

Fig. 2 is a section taken substantially on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; and

ig.. 3 is a section taken substantially on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

' For the purpose of illustrating my invention I have shown on the drawing an apparatus which I at present prefer. This apparatus comprises a cooling oven through which the car'wheels or other articles are carried as anincident to the annealing and cooling, first from one end to the other and then back to the starting end. The oven comprises a central passageway 11 and two side passageways 12 defined by two central walls 13 and two side walls 14. These walls may be of any preferred form or construction and may be ofany.' 'preferred material. It is, however, desirable that they'be of high heat insulating quality. f In each passageway are located two tracks v 15 for the wheels 16 of trucks having bodies .17 of heat resistant material, such as brick work, upon a support 18. Adjacent the oii end of the oven I provide a preheater 21 for the trucks, this preheater in the present instance comprising two chambers 22 and 23, A crane 24 is provided for loading thewheels or other articles upon the trucks as they are received from the foundry proper and while the trucks are in the preheater. A pair of tracks 25 extend across the oven and between it'and the prcheater and in these tracks are preferably provided three turntables 26, one in front of each oven passageway,vthe two preheaters being arranged in alinement with the central and one of the end passageways.

A pusher 27, preferably of the fluid pressure type, is provided back of each preheater to push the truck and its load out onto the turntable and into the oven or onto the tracks 25 depending upon which preheater chamber is employed. If the truck and its load is pushed upon turntable 26 the truck is turned, moved along the tracks 25 to in front of thc central passageway and then into this passageway. The trucks are square or rectangular in shape and as each is pushed into the central passageway it pushes ahead those -way.

already previously positioned and advances them one step or truck length toward the exit of the oven. As the trucks are advanced one after another they are pushed out of the passageway 11 at the opposite end and onto a truck carrier 28 adapted to run on tracks 29 under the influence of pushers 31.

These pushers alternately deliver the trucks with their load to the side passageways and through them they are moved back similarly by pushers 32, each in turn pushing out the truck at the opposite end of the line as the next is added.

'lhe'central passageway is divided into a heating zone and a slow or hot air cooling zone. Considering the side passageways and the central passageway as togetherconstituting a single passageway throughl the appa` ratus, it may be stated that the trucks travel through a heating zone-and slow cooling zone and rapid cooling zone. rl`he heating zone receives heat from burners 33 burning into an upper chamber 34 separated by an openwork v arch 85 from the passageway itself. lHot air is admitted from similar burners of lower intensity or by the introduction of hot air itself from pipes or inlets 36 located intermediate the ends of the central passageway. The car wheels pass more rapidly through the center passageway than through the end passageways, i. e. they stay lon er in the zone of more rapid cooling so trat as the temperature -is gradually reduced the rate.

of reduction of temperature is reduced. In the action of the apparatus the hot air moves along from theentrance of the central passageway to its exit and then out in the branches back through the two side passageways in this manner producing the desired rate of cooling and materially increasing the efficiency by maintaining the walls 13`in somewhat heated condition from the side passage- The wheels mounted upon the brickwork 17 are supported thereon upon sand 41 and sand interposed between each car wheel web and the web next above it. This sand serves to keep the car wheels spaced apart and also acts as a heat insulating material to slow down the cooling itself to prevent setting up of the strains of the material and to obtain lconnection. Means are also provided for sealing the space between adjacent trucks. This a downwardly extending flange 53 and an in clined flange 54, the inclined flange 54 being so arranged that it will engage the forward edge of a channel member 47 and lift it up so that the flange 53 will enter the sealing mav terial to form an hermetic vconnection at 57. I also provide'a similar flange 55 above vthe container and on the same truck to enter into the sand with the iiange 54. The trucks are so introduced into the oven ythat two adjacent trucks have 'their adjacent ends oneprovided with the container and the other with the flange 54 and complete sealingl or substantially complete sealing is thus effected to sepa-v rate the space above from thevspace beneath the truck and to confine the moving hot or warm air into intimate contact with the articles being annealed.

Vv'hile it is believed that the process embodying my invention will be understood" from the above-described apparatus adapted for its practice, it might be well to mention that the trucks are preferably first positioned in the preheater, there loaded with car wheels still hot from the. molds and as soon after the shaking out as is practical.; they are then introduced immediately ,into the central passageway and intermittently advanced therethrough to the opposite end, being first-subleov ject-ed to a slight reheating and then pasa l through a slow cooling zone. As they leave the central passageway they arealternately diverted to the right and to the left and brought back lthrough the side passageways v for delivery from the annealing furnace. It is thought that the invention and "many of its attendant advantageswill beunderstood from the foregoing descri `tion, and it will be apparent that various c anges may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacricing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merelyapreferredembodiment thereof.

I claim: l 1. The process-of annealing articles of the` character describedgwhich comprises passing them continuously through an oven heated to different temperatures at different parts, and moving said' articles more rapidly through the parts of higher temperature.

2. The process of annealing articles of the character described, whichl comprises passing them through an oven of graduated tempera tures, and protecting they thinner parts with v heat insulating material by arrangingthe hot air introduction intermediate the ends of saidpss'ageway.

y car wheels adjacently in a vertical pile and -inserting heat insulating material between l1vocooling zone.

the adjacent web exposed.

3. vThe process of annealing car wheels,

portions, leaving the rims which comprises moving the car wheels 'through an oven having a slow cooling Zone and a rapid cooling zone,.and controlling the temperature of the rapid cooling zone from the slower cooling zone.

- fl. The process of annealing articles of the character described, which comprises passing them through an annealing oven having a `heating zone, a slow cooling zone, a rapid cooling zone and supplying heat to the rapid cooling zone from the heating zone and slow 5. The process of annealing Vcar wheels in afurnace having a central and side coo-ling zovens, which comprisesy advancing said ca'r wheels-through the central ovenifor slow cooling, and passing said car wheels'alternately back through ovens on cach side of said central oven for rapid cooling.

6. The process of annealing articles of the character described, which comprises removing the article from the mold in which it is 9. Anv annealing `oven, comprisin v'detining a passageway from end to en ,tracks said wheels whereby to produce slow cooling d of said wheels.

l8'. The process of annealingL articles of the characterdescribed in an apparatus comprising central and side cooling ovens, which Ycomprises removing said articles from ythe molds in which they were cast and while the articles are still hot passing them through a central slow cooling oven and back through side slow cooling ovens and at the same time maintaining an air-circulation from the entrance of said central oven to the exit of said side ovens, whereby to maintain a desired and relatively hi h temperature in the partitions between sai central and said side ovens. walls in said passageway, meansintroducing hot products of combustion at the beginning of s aid'- passageway, andmeans for producing n` apparatus for annealing articles of the character described, ,comprising an oven having walls defining an elongated passageway, tracks vin said passageway, trucks movable on said tracksand for supporting said articles, and means' hermeticallyjsealing the Aspace above the bodies ofthe trucks from the space therebeneath, said means including a container for a sealing member on the end of a truck, a iiange on an adjacent en dof an adjacent truck, and a member on said end of said adjacent truck for maintaining said container in position to cause said sealing material to be engaged by said flange.

11. A cooling apparatus, comprising a cooling oven having three or more passageways, means for advancing trucks carrying articles to be cooled through a central passageway and then alternately returning said trucks through side passageways.

12. An apparatus for annealing articles of the character described', comprising an elongated passage through which trucks carrying saidv articles may pass, a truck preheater arranged adjacent said oven, and `means for loading saidv articles upon said truck while Ain, s aid preheater.

`13.y An apparatus for annealingv articles of the char-acter described, comprising an elongated passage through which trucks carrying said articles may pass,'a truck preheater arranged adjacent said oven, means for loading said articles upon said truck while in said preheater, and means for transferring said trucks from said preheater to said ovens.

14. An annealing oven, comprising, walls forming a main passageway and a plurality ot' connecting branch passageways, means for advancing a succession of trucks carrying articles thereon through said main passageway and for then moving each successive truck through a different branch passageway to effect slower cooling of the articles.

15. An annealing oven, comprising,I walls defining a main passageway and a plurality of connecting branch passageways, means for heating the main passageway to a higher temperature than the branch passageway, and means for advancing asuccession of trucks carrying heated articles thereon through said main passageway and for then moving each successive truck through a different branch passageway 'to effect slower-cooling of the article in said branch passageways.

16. An annealing oven'having walls delining an elongated passageway, and comprising means for heating a'portion of said passageway to a higher temperature than an-` other portion, and means for passing heated A articles more rapidly through said portion of highertemperature than through the other said portion of said passageway to effect slow cooling of the article. l

17. An annealing oven, comprising walls forming a central passageway and two branch passageways, one on each side of the central passageway, said branch passageways communicating with the -central passageway at one end thereof, means for heating the interior of the central passageway sothat the heated medium will pass into the branch passageways' and means for passing a succession of trucks carrying heated articles thereon through said main passageway and thence alternately through said branch passageways for effecting slow cooling.

, 18.. An annealing oven, comprising, a main oven, the walls of which provide a centralI passageway and two branch passageways, one

lying on each side of the central passageway, the walls of said main oven being closed at the end but arranged to form communications between said central passageway and said branch passageways, tracks in said passageways and a track in the oven at the end connecting the central with the branch passageways, said track being disposed transversely to the track in said central passageway and v means for shifting a truck from said central passageway to either of the branch passageways and while on said trackswl y 19. An annealing ovencomprising, al main oven,y the walls of which-,provide a central passageway and two branch passageways,- -one lying yon each sideiof the central passageway,

the walls of said main oven being closed at the endgbut arranged ,to form a communication between said centralv passageway1 and said bi-anch: passageways, tracks in said passageways and atrack in the oven at the end conr`necting the central with the branch passagefways, said track being disposed transversely to the tracks insaid'passageway and means `for shifting a truck from a central passageway toeither of the branch passageways, a i

' the space therebeneath, comprising dependv v sageway and lying adjacent to the said second transverse track and means for pushing a truck from either compartment of the preheating ovenonto a turn-table on said track and for pushing said truck into either the central passageway or a branch passageway.

20. An apparatus for annealing articles, comprising, an oven having walls delining ,an elongated passageway, tracks in said passageway, trucks movable along said tracks, means for substantially hermetically sealing the space above the bodies of the trucks from ing lianges on the ends of a truck adapted to engage similar flanges of an adjacent truck,

y'asand container shi'ftably mountedv on the "endofone truck and positioned beneath the depending flange of that 'truckaand alatch vmember" forming an inclined surface arranged on' theend of the other truck adjacent y its depending flange and adapted to engage' yand force said sand container upwardly to ,'enclose said adjacent depending flanges when .two trucks come together,wliereby the two depending and-contacting anges project into the sand in `the container.

21. An' apparatus for annealing articles,

comprising an oven having walls defining an elongated passageway, tracks insaid passageway, trucks movable along said tracks, and means for 'substantially hermetically sealing the space above the bodiesof the trucks from the space therebeneath comprising a depending flange formed on the opposed ends of theV truck and adapted to engage a similar flange arranged on an adjacent truck sand holding v container shiftably mounted on the bottom of the truck adjacent` said` flange and a c23- operating latch arranged on-another truck adapted -to engage and move said container to a position enclosing the engaged flanges of adjacent trucks when said trucks are brought together.

22. An 'apparatus for annealing car wheels and the like, comprising an oven having walls defining an elongatedY passageway, tracks in said passageway, trucks movable on said tracksfor supporting articles and means hernietically sealing the trucks above the bodies of the trucks from the space therebeneath,

said means including a depending iange and a sand holding container and means for automatically causing said flange and said container to shift relatively one to the other when said cars come together, whereby to cause the end of the flange to be projected into the sand.

. GEORGE S. EVANS., 

